The - 12 - Not - Quite - Herculean - Labours - of - Dragonfly

England

2006-10-10T19:29:00.000+07:00

After 8 weeks, about 8,000 miles, 287hrs, 15mins actual travelling time, 1 boat, 8 buses, 3 pick-up trucks, 11 trains and 12 completed challenges later, I finally make it home to England. It’s great to be back! I haven’t been home in almost 3 and a half years, mainly working in Thailand in that time but also travelling a fair and not just on this trip.

I hoped as a Grande finale to the trip to break a world record. This would hopefully give much needed publicity to this trip and therefore to the reason why Dragonfly did all this, the children affected by the tsunami, still so much in need of our help even after nearly 2 years. Unfortunately trying to organise 1000 people to attempt the World’s Largest Wheel Barrow race hasn’t been as easy as I’d hoped. Not because we couldn’t find the people but instead finding a suitable venue. We will still be attempting the record, sometime in the New Year most likely.

I have been in England for almost a month and away from my work for over 3 so it’s time to pack my bags and get back to my new home, Thailand. Once arrangements have been made I will come back to attempt the record, or perhaps we may attempt it in Thailand.

I would just like to say a massive thank you to all of you that supported this trip. Many people gave up their time, and effort to help us. Lots of money has been raised so far, just over £4000. I know that we will raise the rest with your support.

Thank You.

France (click for video)

2006-10-04T23:43:00.001+07:00

This is the last country of the 12 in which I was challenged to do a task. I must appear on French TV somehow, not easy with the limited time I have and, my even more limited French. My plan up until the day before I arrive is to first go to a major football match and get on camera somehow, perhaps by using the very British peculiarity of streaking across the pitch. Plan B is to try and get into a TV studio by getting into the audience and then drawing attention to myself somehow. The potential problems are fairly obvious, plan A means I may well get arrested by French police believing I'm an English football hooligan, where as plan B, unless I get on a live show they can just edit me out.

Once again fate is kind to me. The evening before I’m due to leave Belgium for France I’m informed of an Indian festival that’s due to start the day I arrive. There will be TV cameras everywhere, as it’s going to be a huge event. The festival is being held in Lille, which is pretty handy as it means I can travel in relative luxury for the first time on my trip on the eurostar direct to London.

When I arrive at Lille train station I can see immediately that I have been well informed. Lining the main street are 10 giant ornately decorated elephants, several huge stages and, most importantly, loads of TV cameras. After wandering around for a while looking for a friendly face I notice a cameraman plus his assistant filming the crowd for his network. He readily agrees to film me in the middle of the crowd, while his assistant films me with my camcorder.

They explain that they are getting footage that will be used on local TV and, National networks but can’t guarantee if I’ll make it on or not. He gives me a name and address that I can send a request for the footage of me, whether I’ll get it or not, he’s not sure. He promises to try and get that particular piece on for me but for now you can see the footage taken by his assistant if you click the link.

Next stop, home!

Holland (click here for video)

2006-10-04T23:43:00.000+07:00

This is one of the more stupid tasks I've been set. Go-cart down the highest point in Holland with wheels made of cheese. You may be thinking to yourself there is no highest point in Holland, it's flat as a pancake. But you couldn't be more wrong, Vaalsberg is a terrifying 325metres tall, compare that to the mere 9000metres of everest. You may also be thinking to yourself how is this quite tall and rather portly chap going to be supported by cheese?

After wasting a couple of perfectly good Gouda cheeses I decided to use a little license to get going. My friend Yan in Belgium had supplied me with some wheelbarrow wheels which after weighing up not getting going at all or cheating slightly I decided that I could quite reasonably attach the cheese to the outside of the wheels. This would at least give the appearance of having cheese wheels.

Not the most spectacular or highspeed go-cart run but could still quite possibly be a contender for the land cheese speed record.

Belgium (click here for the video)

2006-10-04T23:42:00.000+07:00

I'm now in Antwerp, with my good friends Yan and Jane for probably the most difficult, technically, challenge. Walking on water isn't something people do very often for obvious reasons so it should be interesting to see how I manage this one.

I have a few days to prepare for this task as Yan, Jane and Yan's brother Edo have organised a benefit party for this weekend. They have arranged an outdoor venue near a lake so I can make my attempt sometime during the party. There will be between 8 - 10 bands, a magician, full bar, food, and a huge sound system to help encourage everyone to spend lots of money, thus earning lots of money for the children in Thailand.

It's been amazing to see just how much time and effort they have put into organising this event. I can't thank everyone enough for their kindness, all performers donated their time for free. The party in the end raised 887 pounds, which is incredible, a big step towards the final amount.

As far as the challenge goes, take a look at the video to see how I managed it.

So, I'd just like to thank everyone that donated time, money and effort to raising money and helping with the challenge, especially Yan, Edo and Jane - THANK YOU!!!!!!

Germany (click here for the video)

2006-10-03T16:40:00.000+07:00

The challenge for Germany was quite an interesting one, "get photographed with someone famous". Now we all know that celebrities love nothing more than having some complete stranger throw their face towards theirs and going click with the camera. Trouble is, finding one when you need to.

I decided that being a footie fan I´d try my luck down in Munich, home of Germany´s most famous club, Bayern. Just before leaving though I heard from a fellow traveler that the Oktoberfest was on as well. For all non-beer drinkers out there, Oktoberfest is one of the largest festivals in the world, not only that, it is solely about drinking beer, great big steins of the stuff. I can honestly say I had no idea it would be on, as you would imagine it would happen in October, but no, it was brought forward a few years ago because of the cold weather and now starts early September and finishes around the 4th of October. Fantastic!!

This proved to be a welcome distraction as my planning for this one let me down badly. I arrived on Tuesday as was due to leave Thursday, unfortunately Bayern were on their way to Italy to play Inter in the champions league, and wouldn´t be back until Friday. Even then they would be having a closed training session, Saturday they would be playing and Sunday resting, so no access.

I put my departure back a day to give me a little more time to come up with a plan. I visited the training ground twice, first time to check it out and the second time on the Friday I was leaving to see if I could get into the closed training session some how. The security I must say seemed a little over the top, three times I was thrown out of the grounds. Each time the guards getting a little bit more angry.

I noticed a creepy looking little guy with a folder, he kept watching to see what I was up to. So I decided to see what he was up to, as he certainly didn´t work there. It turns out he was a major fan, he had posters, cards, pictures of the players and match day programs all covered in signatures. I asked if he spoke English, obviously not, judging by his response but I thought this guy could be useful so I´d better keep an eye on him.

And true enough at some unseen signal he took off, so I followed from a distance. He went to a little fence hidden around a corner, and after not 10mins a flashy car pulls up and out pops Oliver Kahn, the goalkeeper for Germany, followed shortly by Roque Santa Cruz, forward from Paraguay, Andreas Ottl, midfield Germany, and someone I´m not quite sure who they are (sorry I´m sure you´re very famous too).

So a big cheer for creepy guy, and the players at Bayern Munich for letting me shove my head at theirs and going click. 9 for 9.

Poland (click here for the video)

2006-10-03T16:39:00.000+07:00

It wasn´t a challenge as such in Poland, instead I was asked to visit and lay flowers at Auschwitz. Auschwitz is a place most of us are aware of, it was after all the scene of one of the most brutal and insane chapters in human history.

I decided to take a tour as I wanted a guide to give me more of an insight into the place, then perhaps I would have got visiting by myself. On the bus from Krakow to Auschwitz we were shown a disturbing 50min documentary that included original footage taken by Russian cameramen when the camp was finally liberated by the the Red army.

It´s very difficult to describe what happened to the victims in a few short paragraphs. So I would recommend anyone that has the chance to go there and see for themselves. It`s also worth looking into finding books on the subject. It shows how easily people can change into something, and do things they wouldn´t believe possible of themselves.

Even though this happened 60 or so years ago, that´s actually frighteningly recent. It shows that unless we ourselves guard against this kind of thing it could happen again. As it already has in Rwanda, East Timor and the old Yugoslavia and many other places besides.

Lithuania (click here for the video)

2006-09-16T20:11:00.000+07:00

This challenge seemed to present many opportunities. Could it be some mysterious place, part of Lithuanian folklore? Or is it some rare spice found only in the ancient forests? Or some nectar like drink reserved for visiting heads of state? No. Zappa as I discovered through google was a pschedelic rocker from the USA, and was fairly big in 60s and 70s.

Local photographer, Saulius Paukstys was so devastated by his death that he petitioned local authorities to install a bust of the deceased musician. In his own words "Okay, so Zappa never visited Lithuania and had absolutely no connection with the country, but as far as I was concerned, this was a test of our new-found freedom. Lithuania had just proclaimed itself to be a democratic country. I wanted to test it and see if I would be able to realize my ideas." 70-year-old local sculptor Konstantinas Bogdanas created the bust, which now stands in a carpark near the outskirts of town, don't blink or you'll miss it.

Latvia - (click here for the video)

2006-09-16T20:10:00.001+07:00

I don't have a contact in Latvia, so this one could well be very tricky, I've really no idea about how to approach this one, so let's just see what happens. By chance, on my first night I run into a Canadian guy I had met in Estonia, and he tells me that there's a ballet school opposite the hostel he's staying in, things are looking up. So the next day he comes to meet me and shows me where it is, this could be a perfect place to meet just the right contact.

It appears the school leases a room in the building, so I ask the lady at the reception to the building if it's possible to go up and visit the ballet school. Unfortunately she doesn't understand a word I'm saying, so a little mime is needed to explain where I want to go. She looks at me and says "Ah, ballet" which I'm pretty sure is exactly what I said. She writes some figures on a piece of paper and hands it to me with a satisfied look on her face. I can only assume they are times of the classes, so I decide to return at the next time written on the paper.

Next stop is the National Theatre, the venue in which I am supposed to hold my performance. At the moment they are showing a play so I'm a little disheartened, as it's unlikely there are any dancers around. I step inside and ask the ticket office about the possibility of me performing a ballet. Her expressions changes from dead-pan to horror, confusion and then derision, not a good sign!

Her English is basic, and my Latvian is none existent, so we reach an impasse which she breaks by asking "you want ticket for show?" I decide a different tact is needed, back to the ballet school. I arrive a one of the three times the lady wrote on the card, and try the door to the class but it's obvious no one's home. Not sure what to do, so I start trying to think of a plan B.

The guy who sent this in gave me a get-out clause in case something like this happens. I can, if I must, perform the ballet outside the theatre. This is something I'm not too keen on as It's on a major road through the city, a bit like Leicester square, not really the place for impromtu ballet performances. Unfortunately as my second visit to the theatre is just as useless as the first I decide that with time constraints this is what I'll have to do.

Apologises to ballet lovers, culture vultures and those easily shocked. But I must try at least to perform a ballet, and with no idea how to do this I decide on an Contempary-Abstract style familiar with people who've drunk a little too much, enjoy. I have mixed the video with footage of a real dancer, can you tell which is real and which is me?

Estonia (click here for the video)

2006-09-16T20:10:00.000+07:00

After my (at least I thought) heroics with the Banya and icy lake the thought of a sluething challenge seemed quite appealing to me. I arrived after a relatively short journey of 6hrs in the capitol of Estonia (Tallin) in the international bus station freezing my butt off. I had packed for summer and was wearing shorts and t-shirt and it was now well into Autumn in Northern-Europe.

I thankfully found a taxi quite quickly, which took me to a local hostel, and I climbed into bed to warm-up. My first day, I spent trying to up-date this blog. I had broken my camera in Loas, and was using only my video camera to get stills from, but no computers had the capability to download video so I couldn't use frames off it to use as pictures. After a fun evening with fellow travellers I took to the city in search of my mystery statue, which someone had sent me a picture of and told me to find.

I found a tourist info centre and asked if they knew where this statue might be, hoping they might at least be able to give me some clues to it's location. "Yes, it's just round the corner" they tell me. It couldn't have been easier, and to be honest - I'm not sure if it was a little bit of a cheat me asking them. Well, never mind, I found the statue (although, I did manage to get lost for half an hour, even though they'd given me a map with the statue marked on it) it was 200m from the info centre.

So, not too much to report, except Tallin has a beautiful old city in the centre, and I'm in need of buying some winter clothes, as I'm starting to get stared at in shorts and T-shirts while all the locals are wearing trousers, jackets and scarves. Task completed.

Russia (click here for the video)

2006-09-16T19:50:00.000+07:00

This post was extremely long when I wrote it out in my diary, but I decided that this may be a better way of doing it. So, for those of you with a short attention span (myself included) here are the highlights of my Russia trip, and challenge:

Lots of vodka.

Lake Baikal (world's largest body of fresh water, found in the heart of Siberia).

4 day drunken train journey on the Trans-Mongolian (it was my hospitable Mongolian host's fault).

Large Mongolian lady having an extremely bloody fight with young men (and winning).

Lots of vodka.

Crooked customs officials.

Mongolian traders/smugglers selling all their goods at every station we stopped at.

Crazy Russians charging the train to buy all their goods.

Lots of vodka.

Largest and fastest market on wheels.

Lots of vodka.

Moscovite con-men.

Almost dying of heat stroke in a Russian Banya (similar to a sauna); then hyperthermia whilst swimming naked in an icy lake.

Lots of vodka

My favourite country so far, and not just because of the vodka.

Mongolia (click here for the video)

2006-09-16T19:13:00.000+07:00

You have 48hrs to learn the ancient singing technique of traditional throat singers, plus enough Mongolian to sing "I'm a little teapot", no sweat!

Throat singers are able to produce several sounds at the same time. A deep bass noise from their diaphram, plus high pitched whistling sounds through their nasal passages all whilst singing. My contact took me to see a concert of all traditional styles of music, singing and dancing. It happened to be the 800th year anniversary of Chengis Khan's empire, who we all know as Ghengis Khan, the most famous warrior of all time.

Chengis is still a National hero and you can see his image everywhere. His face adorns over 20 types of vodka (vodka drinking seems to be a National hobby), lots of cigarette packets, foods and hotels. It seems there has been a bit of a gap, since he, and his Grands sons, in famous Mongolian warriors, or anyone famous for that matter.

After the concert I had the opportunity to meet with the singers, and the throat singer in particular. He didn't seem quite so scary in normal clothes, his singing outfit and hat gave him a remarkable likeness to the face I had seen plastered on vodka bottles ever since I arrived. His Father was a throat singer, and was now teaching this technique at the Ulan Baatoor university. He said when I explained through my translator that I'd better go visit his Father, it takes years to master the technique. He gave me a very sceptical look when I told him that I had 24hrs, and that I also needed to learn Mongolian (he was convinced I was taking the p**s, I think).

My translator explained why I wanted to do it, and he kindly agreed to put on a little show for me. He arranged some musicians, and then belted out some amazing songs, it really is quite beautiful to listen to, amazing control. The more I listened the more I realised my own rendition of "I'm a little teapot" was going to be painful for me and anyone listening.

He tried his best to teach me a few basic sounds, but told me it could take month's of practice to get them in tune, and I certainly believed him. So off I went to find a quiet spot to spend the evening practicing. The video starts of with him singing so you can hear what it should sound like.

China (click here for the video)

2006-08-30T10:10:00.000+07:00

I picked probably the worst time of the year to travel in China. After arriving in the Southern city of Kunming I was told the next available ticket to Beijing was in 9 days, I only intended staying for a total of 4 or 5 in China. After two days I manage to get a ticket to Chongqing, about a third of the way to Beijing, from there I hoped it would be easier to get a direct train. I did manage to do so after a 24hr wait, and feel very lucky to do so.

A family are travelling in my carriage, but don't have enough tickets, the Mother of the two young children hoped there age and size meant they could travel for free as is the train companies policy. Unfortunately the daughter who was around 8 years old was slightly too tall (they have amusement park style "are you tall enough"measuring devices on the walls). Except in this case, if you are, it's not good news. The Aunt of the children tried her best to console the crying children as their Mother was forced off the train (this was a definite case of "More than my jobs worth, pettiness").

Chongqing, when I arrived, was holding a fundraising event for flood victims. This involved taking over the city square by a huge stage, upon which opera singers, traditional dancers entertained the huge crowds gathered. The Chongqing television crews were out in fullforce televising the event which I understand was being shown on over 20 local TV channels.

A large telecommunications company were sponsoring the event, and at the very front, cordoned off from the crowd were very lovely young ladies taking calls from people sending in donations. A large banquet style table was set up with the ladies sitting side by side, which was pulling almost as big a crowd as the entertainers themselves. Everytime a call came in the lady would write down the amount and someone would add these, and everytime it reached a certain level, someone would walk across the stage holding a large card with the amount printed on it, to huge applause from the gathered crowds.

There was a wonderful, excited and light hearted atmosphere about the place. All except for the very serious ladies at the table, so I tried my best to get a little wave or a smile from one or two, along with the help of a couple of locals, to make sure they weren't some kind of sophisticted robot. But, either they were or they were made of sturner stuff, or our slightly drunken attempts at humour weren't quite as funny as myself and my new found best friends believed.

After 5 days I finally reached Beijing and met my contact Erin, she had very kindly agreed to help me with the 2nd task. After spending a night in a hostel, I met Erin again and we proceeded to a localpark to meet Mr. Wang Lei. He is the 6ft 4in Basketball coach who would obviously be taller than me, and therefore help me with the task. He spoke no English but could speak fluent portuguese after spending three years in Brazil training to be a footballer. He kindly offered for me to come to his school to meet and play with his team, who he claims contains 4 players taller than himself. I would have relished the chance to be ridiculed by fitter, stronger teenage boys at a sport I've only played twice, but time constraints meant I couldn't. It was Friday afternoon and we wouldn't be able meet the team until Monday morning. I had a contact to meet in Mongolia in 36 hrs time, and if I didn't get moving I'd never be able to meet her before she left for her studies in Japan. Anyway, job done challenge two completed.

The Lantun and Sida people

2006-08-24T14:45:00.000+07:00

The villages of the Lantun and Sida people are situated about 4hrs apart, by a pretty tough trek over 2 small mountains. The Lantun village is fairly easy to get to, you can almost drive to the door of the village Headman's house, now that the Loas government has realised that there is money to be made from tourists, and has built a small road off the main highway. To get the Sida village you must be prepared for a fairly exhausting climb up two steep mountains (and at the time of this visit, also made extremely slippery by Monsoon rains).

Strangely enough it is the Lantun, this unique group of only 3000 people, living in Loas, and a few hundred more in neighbouring vietnam, that seem the least touched by modernisation. The ladies still shave off their eyebrows at 15 as a sign of womanhood, and continue to do so until death. All still wear the traditional Indigo clothes,worn for hundreds of years. The indigo dye is produced by the ladies of the village, which they use to dye all their clothes. The indigo plant is processed in a large pot filled with water, by scooping and pouring the mixture with their indigo stained hands. Eventually the mix thickens into a paste and is poured through a sack cloth and the remaining gloop is used as dye.

They also sell their dyed clothes to tourists (mainly backpackers) to earn a little extra cash, and tour companies pay to allow groups to visit the village. The day we arrived a spirit ceremony had been in progress since the day before. A village elder was sick, and the local, let's call him soothsayer/spirit guide (SSG for short) for want of a better term had just finished his diagnosis (no doctors for these guys, they believe in spirits). The SSG had spent the last 24hrs non-stop speaking to the house spirit of the sick man to find the problem,and solution. He did this by reading chants from a book that we were told only a few hundred people still alive could read it.

Once the house spirit informs the SSG of the particular ailment (evil spirit) and what sacrifice must be made to appease it the village gathers in the house of the sick man. Effigies are made of the evil spirit, and are burnt whilst the SSG's young assistant rings his bell to ward it away from the home. Then the sacrifice is made to the house spirit for his help, in this case a young goat. The raw meat is offered to the house spirit, and once it is accepted they cook it and a celebratory feast takes place.

We were invited to watch the ceremony but not to film it. We still had about 6hrs before it began so we set off for the Sida village. Even with my, and my 2 American companions eagerness to return in time (but not I think Ria's, after all she is a vegan, and I myself was feeling a little uncomfortable about watching an animal sacrifice) we missed most of the ceremony. The trek was just a little too long and coupled with breaks to allow the Monsoon rains to pass over the mountains we only managed to catch the end of the ceremony.

Unfortunately, I didn't get quite the same insight into the Sida people's way of life. They were not expecting us and the headman had gone hunting. We did get to deliver the school supplies and were treated with great hospitlity by his wife. In my eagerness to return to the Lantun village to see the full ceremony, goat an all, I turned down an offer from an elder to spend the night in the village. This is something I hope to do on my return.

Laos (click here for the video)

2006-08-22T09:05:00.000+07:00

Why did I think anything would be easy in Laos in Monsoon season? After my 2mins boat ride across the Mekong, I arrive Huay Xai the Laos border town at around 1pm. No hanging around for me though it's straight to the agent to arrange a ticket to Luang Nam Tha in the far North of Laos. "you no can get bus today" he says, "why, has it already gone?" "no, no bus today, Monsoon, road closed" "Crap!" The next 20 minutes is spent trying to arrange an alternative route, because maybe the bus will leave tomorrow, maybe it won't. In the end the friendly agent suggests I take a boat, then a pick up truck then a bus in a massive circle. This is going to add 1 or possibly 2 extra days to my travels, this is not good news. Myself and Ria (Dragonfly team member) take a walk to find other alternatives, and a good thing to as it seems, yes, the road is bad but the public bus runs every day, and you can also hire a private car (for considerable cost) to take you. It seems our friendly agent was on the blag all along and just wanted to sell us an expensive boat trip.
So this post doesn't drag and bore you to death with inane details I shall attempt to sum up the rest of the Laos trip in as few a words as possible.
12hrs driving over a giant rocky building site, in a small pick up truck with 16 people. Sore back, sore bum, in fact pretty much everything sore. 1 puncture, stuck in the mud (towed out), wheel bearings breaking (wheel off again), almost hit by Lightning while having lunch, men with AK-47 assault rifles (not soldiers, as far as we can tell), and that's just to get to Lunag Nam Tha. Find a guide to take us to two remote villages, visit the Lantun people (ethnic Chinese run out of China); then the Sida people (also ethnic Chinese run out of China). I suppose when the guide told me the walk would take 7-9 hrs I should have believed him, and not been slightly cross when after 30 mins of walking he told me "No, we're not there yet"
I really do need to get fit, I ended up swopping bags with my guide, as mine was too heavy for me (big wuss), and I still nearly gave up. It's no easy thing, to carry my considerable bulk and the school supplies up these mountains but in the end I did, or should I say we did, after all Ria was there, in fact she seem to find the trek quite easy, and so did the to Americans we met in Huay Xai and managed to talk into helping us carry the load. So, one down, and 11 to go.

On the road

2006-08-22T08:44:00.000+07:00

After a tearful farewell, I said goodbye to my motorbike and get on the road. It feels strange to finally be going after months of planning, worrying and sleepless nights. I'm ready to sink my teeth into the first task, to get one under my belt, I know it'll be one of the easier ones, but it's good to start off at an easy pace. First things first though, I need to get to Loas, which means a 13hr overnight bus journey from my home in Korat, to Chiang Rai; then a relative hop, skip and a jump (2hrs) to the border town of Chiang Khong. The boat across the Mekong is bit off a blur, 2mins of diesel fumes, and shuddering but I'm here, I've made it to Laos (this is going to be easy).

A slight change of plan

2006-08-08T20:58:00.000+07:00

Hey Guys, You may have heard that I will be trying to break two world records of mass participation in Germany. After careful consideration, and the fact it's been almost impossible to organise (I'm in Thailand, I don't speak German and I don't know anyone there) I've decided it would be better to attempt them in England instead. I will arrive in England in October, so anyone that's interested in joining in or helping to organise this event please let me know ASAP. Any suggestions as to where to attempt it, where to get 3500 pillows from, and any other suggestions would be appreciated. The attempts will be the longest Mexican wave (around 7000 people), and the largest pillow fight (3500-3700 people). Also I now need an alternative challenge for Germany, any suggestions?

Preparation time

2006-05-30T16:24:00.000+07:00

Travelling through 12 countries takes quite a bit of planning, especially when you have a certain task to complete in each one. Let me show you what I mean, these are the 12 countries and tasks I'll be travelling through.

1. Laos
I and other members of the Dragonfly team will be visiting a small remote village in Laos to deliver food, clothes and other supplies, that the locals are in need of.

2. China
My next challenge will be to try and find a Chinese person who is taller than me. With a height of 6ft, this could be quite a feat for me in China!

3. Mongolia
In Mongolia, they have a special way of singing, which involves using just their throats. I will have to find a Mongolian folk group to teach me this unique way of singing, and then translate the song “I’m a Little Teapot” into Mongolian for me to sing.

4. Russia
In this sometimes bitterly cold country, they are famous for there hot saunas and ice cold baths. Here, I will take part in the tradition by taking a hot sauna, followed by leaping into an icy cold lake!

5. Estonia
Accompanied by a photograph of a mystery monument, I will set off with the aim of locating the statue, and having a photo of myself taken next to it. Also, I'll have to take part in the famous Estonian hobby of bog walking.

6. Latvia
Here, I'll go to the Latvian National Theatre with the aim to perform a ballet dance that will be taught to me, wearing full Baryshnikov leotard and all!

7. Lithuania
I have been given the task of finding ‘Zappa’ in Lithuania. It is up to me to use my own knowledge and the help of the locals to locate this mystery object / person.

8. Poland
Physically quite an easy task for; simply to lay flowers at Auschwitz but hopefully, I'll also be able to find somebody who knows a little bit about the history to talk to about it.

9. Germany
I have changed the old challenge of the world record attempt to the UK, as it will hopefully be a grande finale to the trip. The new challenge I have selected for Germany is to get photographed with someone very famous.

10. Holland
With Holland being a relatively flat country, this task is a bit of a joke. I've got to find the highest peak; most likely a small hill; and drive down it in a go-cart with wheels made out of edam cheese.

11. Belgium.
In Belgium, I'll have to walk on water. Hopefully this task will be easier than it sounds, I'll either be inside a huge, inflated ball, or on giant skis although I have been warned about the possibility of being washed out to sea.

12. France
My challenge in France is to appear on National T.V, how I go about this is up to me, to be honest I haven't got a clue - but I need the video as proof!

England
The Grand Finale will be a world record attempt in London, sometime in October we will be trying to break the world records for "The World's biggest pillow fight" and "Longest Mexican wave" so if you are around come and join us and be a record breaker.

For all of my tasks I'll have photo and video footage as proof. After each country I'll update my blog and website with pics, video and a diary.

The beginning

2006-05-30T14:56:00.000+07:00

The idea for the 12-Labours trip came to me when driving through the Thai countryside a few months ago. Not sure why the 12 labours of Hercules popped in there, it just did. I thought it could make an interesting idea. Dragonfly has a newsletter that we send out every month, so I asked our readers to send in a task to be completed in each country I'd pass through on my way to England. The first few sent in quickly made me realise that most people enjoy nothing better than making others look stupid e.g. Perform a ballet in Baryshnikov style leotard in the Latvian National Theatre, and drive a go-cart with wheels made of Edam cheese down the highest peak in Holland. Oh well, it's for a good cause!